Liz attended the 'Katnook Estate' wine dinner at the Grand Hotel Tassili Restaurant on
23rd May 2008.
The evening started with a glass of Perrier Jouët Grand Brut in the elegant surroundings of the Champagne Bar at the Grand before moving into Tassili.
Fans of the wines from Katnook Estate in Australia's Coonawarra region may already be familiar with the name of Wayne Stehbens, who has been at the helm of winemaking duties since 1980, and is one of the most respected figures in the Australian wine industry.
Wayne who is the senior winemaker at Katnook was an entertaining & educational speaker & also really enjoyed table hopping & chatting at length to everyone who attended. It was Wayne`s second visit to Jersey but we did still have to tell him where Jersey actually was on the map of Europe!
I loved the amuse bouche which was a green pea soup with coconut foam and I thought the Katnook Sauvignon Blanc complimented this beautifully.
I do really enjoy the Katnook Estate Sauvignon Blanc (which Wayne describes as being quite Sancerre like in fruit flavour & structure) but as we started eating the Jersey Bay Mackerel & Oyster Veloute, Caviar & land cress (and as the Katnook Estate Chardonnay opened up in the glass) I then thought that the Chardonnay was the better food match of this pair of wines. It was interesting to note that the Chardonnay really shone after warming up a little in the wine glass, so this is one wine that really shows its class & range of flavours if it is served lightly chilled but definitely not too cold.
We had the Katnook Estate Cabernet Sauvignon & the Katnook Cabernet Sauvignon Odyssey with the main course of Milk fed Lamb loin, confit shoulder & potato with Pan Juices. Both wines drank really well with this dish & the Katnook Estate Cabernet Sauvignon really showed that hint on mint on the fruit flavour that is unique to Coonawarra Cabernets.
While chatting with Wayne during the evening we had a long discussion about how important the ‘drinkability quality’ is of wine & he mentioned that he was always told you know you have made a great wine if it is a ‘second bottle wine’ meaning if people are offered the choice of a second bottle of wine & they choose to have the same again (a second bottle of your wine) then as a wine maker you have succeeded it creating a good wine. It is something I also feel strongly about as during my time as a brewer I had to always consider the drinkability of a product, as it is actually considered when assessing beer in competitions. Wayne`s Katnook wines all have great fruit, but they also have balance & therefore elegance, which in turn means they have that elusive drinkibility quality. I enjoyed both wines with the main course - yes the Odyssey is a more complex wine but the Katnook Estate Cabernet showed very well beside its big brother.
The Katnook Shiraz Prodigy was very good with the cheese course and the apple jelly that was served with the Devonshire blue & ford farm cheddar cheese was simply delicious! It helped to add a little bit of sweetness that in turn helped the shiraz work with these cheeses. We all wanted to know how Chef Richard Allen made the Apple Jelly…but the secret has not been revealed to me yet..
We then had the Deakin Estate Moscato 5%alc with the delicious dessert of white Peach Trifle, Thyme Flower Ice Cream. The Ice cream was fantastic and the moscato was a nice light way to end the meal.
A really enjoyable evening with delicious food & great wines, that really showed how good Coonawarra is as a wine region & Katnook Estate as a producer.
Jersey Bay Mackerel, Oyster Veloute, Caviar And Land Cress
KATNOOK Sauvignon Blanc 2006 Bottle £11.95
KATNOOK Chardonnay 2004 Bottle £11.95
Milk Fed Lamb Loin, Confit Shoulder And Potato, Pan Juices
KATNOOK Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 Bottle £14.95
KATNOOK Cabernet Sauvignon 'Odyssey' 2002 Bottle £34.95
Devonshire Blue and Ford Farm Cheddar, Walnut Bread, Apple Jelly
KATNOOK Shiraz 'Prodigy' 2003 Bottle £34.95
White Peach Trifle, Thyme Flower Ice Cream
DEAKIN ESTATE Moscato 5%alc 2007 £4.95
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